Think of Me
by Corran Nackatori
Summary: Hitomi chose to go back to Gaea, right? But what about that period of waiting between the vision of Van and the scene on the track? Homework! A songfic; oneshot.


I was listening to my Phantom of the Opera CD and reading Escaflowne fics too late at night and this is the result. Hate it, love it, don't care, just read it, please.

This takes place in episode 24, while Hitomi's back on Earth, after she picked up the Ace of Serpents and saw Van.

Disclaimer: Neither Phantom of the Opera nor Escaflowne belong to me; I like happy endings, or at least complete endings.

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**Think of Me**

Hitomi silently placed her bag down on her bed. She had packed everything she would need for the return trip to Gaea: clothes, a first aid kit, toiletries, small memories all carefully chosen and packed as tightly as possible. She wondered at fate: when she had last waited these long hours until that fateful race, surely it was a lifetime ago, she had agonized over her first kiss, if she would stutter when she finally saw Amano again after her bold proposal, what she would do if she didn't make thirteen seconds. This time, she was agonizing over what she had to leave behind, if she would ever see her family again if this did work, if she could kiss Amano knowing about Yukari and her own mixed-up feelings if it didn't, how many more people she would lose to this war.

Hitomi shook herself. Dwelling on such things wouldn't help; she had made up her mind. But, oh, there was still an hour to go until she had to leave, and this waiting was driving her insane. Seeing her homework peeking out of her backpack, she shrugged. Well, that was one way to pass the time.

Picking up the obtruding sheets, she snorted. It was her English homework. Imagine if she went in and claimed she already had her foreign language. What? You've never heard of Gaean? No, I'm not making it up; I went to another world, and learned it there. What? No, I don't want to visit the funny farm, thanks ever so much.

Her assignment was to translate a song from English. She had picked this particular one because of its soothing melody; it was the only song not rock-and-roll or pop on the list. As she set to work, she could almost hear the smooth soprano echo through her thoughts, suppressing the chaos and concerns.

_Think of me  
__think of me fondly,  
__when we've said  
__goodbye.  
__Remember me  
__once in a while –  
__please promise me  
__you'll try._

Life sure is ironic, ne? Of all the things she could be doing before she left for another world, maybe for good, she was reading a song about partings. It was almost too cliché to be believed.

_When you find  
__that, once  
__again, you long  
__to take your heart back  
__and be free –  
__if you ever find a moment  
__spare a thought  
__for me…_

How had she never seen it before? Yukari was her best friend, right? They spent nearly every waking moment with each other. Hitomi had always thought she could read Yukari's thoughts just by looking in her eyes, they had known each other so well. Was she so blinded by herself? Or had she noticed, and just dismissed it?

_We never said  
__our love  
__was evergreen,  
__or as unchanging  
__as the sea –  
__but if  
__you can still  
__remember,  
__stop and think  
__of me…_

Who was the one who was "serious" about Amano? Hitomi hadn't exactly been keeping all her attention for him, but she thought about him pretty often when she was on Gaea. And, after all, Yukari had not even said or done anything about her feelings. What did it matter – Hitomi would be gone soon. Back to Gaea, back to war, back to visions, back to…Van?

_Think of all the things  
__we've shared and seen –  
__don't think about the things  
__which might have been…_

They had always planned to stay together – they were going to move to England after high school, that was why Hitomi was taking so many English courses after all. If they had managed to get this far together, nothing was going to split them up once they had control of their lives. But did they really have control of their fates in the end? Hitomi's was set: Gaea, but what about Yukari? Would she still go to England without Hitomi? Would she follow Amano to America? Would Hitomi ever even know what happened to her closest friend, her sister-in-heart?

_Think of me  
__think of me waking  
__silent and resigned.  
__Imagine me  
__trying too hard  
__to put you  
__from my mind._

When she was gone, would they figure out what happened? Her mother had told her stories of her Grandmother since she was in her cradle – surely with what Yukari and Amano could see – will see, will see – they could piece together what had happened. They wouldn't…forget, would they? Of course not, they couldn't. Or would it be better if they did, if they…

_Recall those days,  
__look back  
__on a l those times,  
__think of the things  
__we'll never do –  
__there will  
__never be  
__a day, when  
__I won't think  
__Of you…_

The clock chimed. It was time. She was committed; she had passed the point of no return, the final threshold – no backward glances. She picked up her bag and clambered out the window, then quietly walked toward the track.

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Yay! My first fanfic. Ah, well, I liked it, but then again, it's nearly two a.m., so I guess everything's good. Gosh, I love these stories…. sigh I just can't write them.

By the way, the song is obviously "Think of Me", but I'll give you some of my fudge here if you can find the other song from Phantom of the Opera hidden in there…actually not too hidden, but yeah….

Give me a review so I don't torture you so much next time, deal?


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